Of Mice and Men

Add John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men to the list of classics that I'm finally getting around to reading in my old age. I'm somewhat surprised that I've never read it before (and am racking my brain trying to figure out if I've ever read The Grapes of Wrath). During the pandemic, my adult son is on a reading tear and Of Mice and Men is one of the few fiction books that he's read. I decided to read this one along with him and I look forward to discussing it with him later today. If anything noteworthy comes out of my discussion with him, I will surely add a postscript to this blog post. I am sure his ideas about the plot, the setting, and the characters... and their underlying meanings... will be quite thought-provoking.

In case you aren't aware of what this book is about, it's about migrant farmworkers, George and Lennie, in the Depression-era short novel. George is the brains of the pair of friends while Lennie is the brawn. They are saving for a stake. They hope to own a house and have some land. Lennie, in the dream, will take care of the rabbits. I read this novel not knowing how it ends, another thing that's kind of surprising considering how many high school and university reading lists include this title.

This is a story about outsiders. About those who don't belong to mainstream society. It's a story of how outsiders can come together and then how they end up apart.

Living with the racial unrest brought to a head by the recent murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the following really struck a chord within me. Over 80 years after the writing of Of Mice and Men, things couldn't be more similar.

     Crooks stood up from the bunk and faced her. "I had enough," he said coldly. "You got no rights comin' in a colored man's room. You got no rights messing around in here at all. Now you jus' get out, an' get out quick. If you don't, I'm gonna ast the boss not to ever let you come in the barn no more."

     She turned on him in scorn. "Listen, Nigger," she said. You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?"

     Crooks stared hopelessly at her, and then he sat down on his bunk and drew into himself.

     She closed on him. "You know what I could do?"

     "Crooks seemed to grow smaller, and he pressed himself against the wall. "Yes, ma'am." 

Steinbeck experimented with something he called a "playable novel." It was meant to be a sort of cross between a novel and a screen play. It's been on Broadway and there have been three film versions of the story. I'm considering watching one in the next few days just to see how true it is to the actual words of the novel.

This novel is under 100 pages so if for no other reason than you want to add a classic to your list of books you've read, this is a good classic to pick up.

P.S. I was surprised by how on the same page my son and I were after reading this book. My older daughter, rather than reading the book, watched the movie. Some of her observations were a little different from ours.